Archive for January 28th, 2010

Boys and girls living in Singapore, please be careful of the modeling scouts who haunts the streets of Bugis and the Orchard MRT station — perhaps other territories as well.

Don’t get me wrong — I’ve not been deceived by them. In fact, I’ve never went for any of their interviews. All I know is — whenever I take a trip to Orchard, 7 out of 10 times I’d get this sort of approach whereby a man or sometimes a lady would claim to be from a modeling agency and they are looking for new faces to star in commercials.

Sounds familiar? <.__.>{?]

You might have been approached by these people before.

Anyway, I received an e-mail from this agency called “i Models Holdings“, which I encountered one of their scouts months ago.

Kind of surprised at first because I already told the lady that I’m a Johorian and am not interested in modeling. Come to think of it, why did I give her my e-mail address to begin with? You see — These people are quite smooth talkers and know where to hit the spot. The fact that they say they are from a modeling agency and want your contact information is already more than flattering.

In my case, I thought if I give them at least my e-mail address, they would stop tailing me. It was easy for me to walk away and forget about it because I have no aspiration to be a model or get involve in the media arena however for some people out there — this is their chance to be a model; a dream come true.

So upon reading the e-mail — I started pondering if this is even real. I mean — Is this how Singaporeans get their models? By waiting against the walls in MRT stations, tap a person on the shoulder and then asked whether he/she is working or studying?

With much curiosity, I googled for some information regarding this matter and what do you know?

I discovered that this agency is quite notorious for scamming. According to what the people said in forums, it’s not really a scam; it’s just a very risky investmentbecause apparently it works like this: The agency will make a portfolio in which you have to fork out an amount of money and with the created portfolio, the agency will present to companies to evaluate whether they want you for their jobs or not.

How true is this?

I have no idea. If not for the information I’ve read online, I’d still be clueless about how trusty this agency is.

But I suggest to everyone to keep their guards up when getting this kind of approach, especially those who truly aspire to be a model — don’t let the dopamine take control of your senses.

Suppose you find yourself in this situation whereby you are approached by a modeling scout and seriously want to be a model but not sure if the agency is legitimate, here are what you can do to be sure and to safeguard yourself from burning a hole in your purse:

Do not sign up for the contract or pay any money during your first encounter with the modeling scouts.You’d want to do a research on them first before committing yourself totally. Parting with your contact information is fine, I suppose.

Always do a research on the agency and check if other people had similar encounters like you. You might want to believe this is the sign and chance you’ve been praying for however, not everything is sent by God. And it is people like you that these people target. They would give you their name cards and you probably would check their websites first but I tell you — Don’t give yourself in just because their website seems genuine and convincing to you. I say this because it’s their website — They can do whatever they want to make it look and seem genuine. You should look for what others has said about the agency elsewhere such as forums and blogs.

If you have any friends who are in this industry or at least have a slight knowledge about it, seek for their advice first and learn about how the industry works. Do reputable agencies stop people on the streets for contact numbers? Do they charge a sum of money to create a portfolio for you? How sure can you get a job? Bombard them with all the questions you need answers to in order to quench your assurance.

When you are at the agency for the interview (let’s say you decided to check out for yourself), make sure they make themselves clear so that there won’t be any surprises later on. Interrogate them until you’re satisfied. Don’t let them easily entice you. If they want you, they have to prove themselves — not you.

I trust you have good judgments but if you want to read more about what others have to say regarding this topic, here are some sites you can refer to: ↓

←Singapore’s CozyCot Forum – Thread on Modeling/Talent Agencies

←Polytalks.com – Thread subject: Is this a scam?

←Stomp – Thread subject: Stopped on the street, asked to be a model…scam?

You can check the last pages of the forums for more up-to-date information.

Baa~ <u_u>

I’m not implying that Singapore’s modeling street scouts are not genuine — or particularly i Models Holdings. In fact, this kind of things can happen in other countries too so please Singaporeans, I’m not trash-talking about your country.

I could be wrong about i Models Holdings since I’ve not personally been for the interview. This entry is based on what I’ve found online and if you have landed on this post through search engines, then it must mean you are also seeking for information regarding this subject — In other words, it’s just like what I’m doing — Scouting for information before making any moves.

All in all, this entry is directed to agencies that could turn out to be scams or at the very least — misleading in their promises. I’m mostly trying to stress the point about keeping your guards up to such approaches.

Oh yea…I mentioned that I went over to Singapore just a couple of days ago. But I did not tell you all my encounter with yet another “Hi, are you working or studying?”approach.

I was in Woodlands, finishing a bottle of Sparkling Ribena and then a young thin man came up to me and asked if I was working or studying. My first thought was, “Oh dear, not another modeling agency thingy…”

But this man looked different. It wasn’t one of those people who wore working clothes. Instead, he was wearing a normal black shirt, jeans and had nothing in his hands. The previous encounters I had with modeling scouts wore a much presentable clothes and had a notebook with them to write down contacts. However this fella had none.

I tried to ignore him by gulping down the Ribena that was still in my mouth and a stream of thoughts were running in my head. “He looks like he needs money. Is he going to ask me for money? What does he want?”

Despite that I showed no interest in him, he persisted in asking me about my working status and where I come from.

Well, I somehow managed to shake him off without telling him anything other than I’m a Johorian and just here to shop. Also, I didn’t stay long enough to find out whether he’s from a modeling agency or he wanted to borrow money.

That said — Please be careful, everyone~

Any of you who knows more about this than I do, please share with us your opinions and experience! Let’s save people’s dreams from being ruined and destroyed~!

Baa~

Speaking of aspiration — What does sheep aspire to be~kana? <^x^>/

Baa…I want to be an influential and informative blogger~! <^v^>/

[ . . . ]

Please stop laughing at sheep. <´.__.`>

*Updates! – 22nd July 2011*

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